Steam-drying system for paper-making and other machines



H. LIEBECK STEAMDRYING SYSTEM FOR fAPER MAKING AND OTHER MACHINE S v June: 5,

Filed May 15 q mi w Patented June 5, 1923.

UNITED [STATES PATENT orFicE.

HARRY IQIEBECK, or SWARTHMQRE, PENNSYLVANIA, iissienon TO sco'r'r PAPER oomrimmn CORPORATION or PENNSYLVANIA.

STEAM-DRYING SYSTEM FOR PAPER-MAKING AND OTHER MACHINES. I

Application filed May 15, 1922. Serial No. 560,938.

To all "whom it may concern:

.Be it known that I,HARRY LIEBEK, a citizen of the United States, and resident of Swarthmore, county of Delaware, and State of Pennsylvania, have invented an Improvement in Steam-Drying Systems for Paper- Making'and Other Machines, of which the following is a specification. 7

It has been customary in connection with 10 paper making machines and in the textile industry to provide a largenumber of steam heated drying cylinders about which the paper or fabric is caused to pass and which, by reason of contact with the revolving drying cylinders, are brought to a dry condition.

In drying apparatus of this character, it

has been customary to groupthe drying cylinders into a series of sections and supply ing steam thereto in such manner that the steam which passes through the drying cylinders of the first section (which may be designated as the dry end) is supplied to the drying cylinders of the next section and so on through the successive sections until the last or wet end section is heated. The

water of condensation has been collected from the return mains of the various sections and thereby removed from the circulation. It has further been customary, where the steam in any section is insufiicient for requirements, to by-pass a art of the steam from .the supply pipe of t e previous" section, whereby a greater supply of steam may be had than what would have been the case if the steam from the return mains of the previous section had alone' been depended upon for the steam supply.

I have found that, especially in connection with the making of paper and paper board,

4 these drying systems, as heretofore constructed and used, are not as flexible in re spect to the steam circulation and control as they should be to meet the special requirements which are from time to'timeo'ccurring, and it is .the object of my invention to so modify the general systems heretofore employed so as to secure the requisite flexibility and efficiency which I deem desirable and practically essential to secure the best 5 results with a limited number of drying cylinders and normally available steam supply.

In putting my invention into practice, I

arrange the drying cylinders in groups to constitute a series of sections, each containing cylinders are shown in section.

' ing the number of cylinders which is predetermined by the grade of paper or material to be treated,

a system of supply and return pipes communicating with the cylinders, and furthermore, provided with valves and bypass pipe connections also provided with valves, whereby the number of sections may be varied by manipulation of the valves so and combine with the said drythat all of the cylinders may be grouped as one section, or for operation, in any other combination up to the full number of sec.-'

tions for )WlllCh 'it is normally designed. Such capacity for regrouping the various drying cylinders permits the system to be so operated that one steam pressure may be simultaneously employed in all of the drying'cylinders, or, by special manipulation of the valves involving the closing of some and opening of others, steam of various pressures and temperatures may be introduced 1nto consecutive sections of the drlers.

My invention furtherscomprehends, in

connection with theabove control of the steam supply, of a system of waterdrainage whereby the accumulations of water of condensation' from the various seotions may be 'automatica. ly removed.

With the above and other objects in'view, the nature of which will be more fully understood from the description hereinafter,

the invention consists .in the novel construction of steam drying-systems for pa r making and other machines, as hereina ter more fully described and defined in the claims. v r

Referring to the drawings: Fig. 1 is a diagrammatic side elevation of a drying apparatus embodying my improved system of cylinder and pipe connections, and associated means for removing the water of condensation; and Fig. 2 is a side elevation of one of the drying cylinders inconnection with its journal support and association with supply and return mains which latter For cohvenience, I have indicated the drying cylinders as arranged in four sections, those of section 1- being numbered 2, those of section 2 beingnumbered 3, and simi larly, those of sections 3 and 4 being nuin bered respectively 4 and 5. The steam supply main is indicated'by the sections 6, 7, 8,

9 and 10, which may be separated by shutofl' valves 13, 14, 15 and 16. 'Valve 13 is the main steam supply valve- From the steam supply pipe 7 steam is supplied to the drying cylinders 2 of section 1 by upright steam pipes 12. In the case of section 2, similar steam pipes 12 connect the supply main 8 with the drying cylinders 3. In the same manner the supply pipes 9 and 10 supply steam corresponding to section 2 receives thewater of condensation and steam from thedrying cylinders 3 'thereofby corresponding pipes 21. In thersame-manner, the returnmains 19 and 20 corresponding to sections 3 and 4 respectively receive the steam and water of condensation through similar pipes 21 from their respective drying cylinders 4 and 5.

It is to be understood, however, that in an. efiicient operation of the system, the steam received in the drying cylinders 5 of section 4, constituting the wet end of the system, is intended to be substantially condensed, so that the return main 20 mainly receives water of condensation since there is no requirement for further transmission of steam v be such that the various sections 1, 2, 3 and 4 beyond section 4. .7 a

In addition to the. steam supply mains j and return mains, I provide a series of by passes 25, 27 and 29 connecting the steam supply mainsand return mains in the man-' ner illustrated.and theseby-passesare refrom gages 41 on a, gagelocatedand wherein said gages are connected spectively provided with control valves 26, 28-and 30. 'As will be seen from the drawing, the by-pass 25 connects the return main 17 of section 1(with the supply main 8 of section 2n Similarly, the by-pass pipe 27 connects. the return main 18 of section 2 with the supply main 9of section '3. Also return main 19 of section 3 connects through-bypass pipe 29with the supply main 10 of secion 4. "The pressure in the various pipes or portions of the system ma be readily read ard 40" suitably by piping indicated at 42, respectively commuhicating with the supply main 7 of section 1 and the return mains 17, 18, 19 and 2 0 of the respective sections 1, 2, 3 and 4.

In addition to the steam supplypsystemf -above described, the apparatus is provided with the following construction for remov ing the water of condensation to prevent waterlogging of the system. The water'of condensation from the return main 17 is conveyed downwardly by a pipe 31 to a trap 32 and thereby discharged into a water return main 39, wluch may lead to the sewer 39. Similarly, the returnmain 19 deliversits water of condensation 'throughpipe 35 and trap 36 into the Water return main 39;

and likewise, return main 20 delivers its water of condensation th rough pipe 37 and trap. 38 into the water return main 39. As

shown in the drawing, the traps 32, 34, 36 and 38 areindicated as tilting traps but may be of any suitable construction, as I in no wise limit myself in; this respect. In case of the traps 32,34 and 36, they should be of a construction wherein the water maybe freely removed while preventing the escape ofsteam. In the case of trap .38 in connection with'section 4, there would be practically no steam passing by pipe 37 to the trap wherethe sections are operated independently in series, but in such case as where all of the sections are operated as one seetioh by the closing of the valves 26, 28 and" 30, and opening all of-thc valves 14, '15, 16,

22, 23 and 24, the trap 38 should operate as in the case of the other traps and, therefore,

it would be desirable that all of the traps shall be of a similar construction, though I do notrestrict myself in this particular.

Assuming the operation of this system to by valve'13, and the water of condensationas well as the uncondensed' steam passing from the drying cylinders '2 are delivered to the return main 17, The water of condensation is drained off by a pipe 31 and delivered by trap 32 to the water return main 39. The steam'from the return main 17 passes upward through the bypass pipe 25 into the supply main 8 of section 2. The water of condensation and uncondensed steam passing from the cylinders 3 of section 2 are then delivered into the return main 18, from hich the water of condensation is removed j y pipe 33 and trap 34, and the steam is conveyed' by upright by-pass pipe 27 to the ,supply main 9 of section 3, and thence delivered to the dry the water of con ensation and steam from g cylinders 4. Similarly,

the drying cylinders 4 are received in return main 19 :from which the water of condensation passes'by pipe 35 and is delivered by trap 36, to the water return main 39 and the steam is delivered through vertical by-pass pip 29 to the supply main 1O and'thence to t e drying cylinders 5 of section 4 which constitutes the wet end of the system,

Thewate'r of condensation reeeived from the drying cylinders into the return main 20 is delivered by pipe 37 and trap 38 into the water return main 39. v

If it should be required thatsections 1 and 2 be grouped as one section and section 3 and 4 as a second section, then it will be understood that all that is necessary is that valves 14, 22, 16 and 24 be opened and valves 26 and 30 be closed. Thereu-pon the, supply mains 7 and 8 are in immediate communication. Similarly, supply mains 9 and 10 are in communication So also return mains I manipulating the valves in the supp 17 and, 18 are in direct communication, and likewise return mains 19 and 20 are in direct communication; .1111- der this condition. the steam passing from the drying cylinders 2 and 3 will flow through the return mains 17 and 18 and by-pass pipe 27 into the supply mains 9 and 1 0', and the system will, therefore, be operating as a two-section system.

It will also be understood that by merely ymains, return mains and by-pass pipes, any other combination of sections may be had such, for example, combining sections 1 and 2 while leaving sections 3 and 4 to operate independently or in series; also to permit sections 2 and 3 to be operated as a single section while maintaining sections 1 and 4 in condition to operate separately. In fact, any combination desired may be had by the arrangement of pipes and valves shown;

I-Ieretofore ,I have described the system under the assumption that valves 14, 15 and 16 were either fully opened or fully closed, but it is to be understood that in some cases these valves may beoperated to by-passa portion of the steam from the supply main of one section into the supply main of the a next section; thus, for example, if the valve cylinders of the re From the foregoing explanations, it will 14 were slightly opened, part of the steam from the supply main 7 would pass into the supply main 8 for the second section and increase or augment the steam received therein from the ret 11 mai 17 and by-pass be recognized that the improved construction of heating system herein described may be controlled and adjusted quickly. to suit varying conditions which may arise and permit the greatest economy in the use of the steam, always insuring just sufficient steam and of the desired pressures required to meet any special condition of treatment necessary. I prefer the arrangement of piping indicated and comprising the supply mains in true alinement and at a higher elevation than the return mains which latter are also in direct alinement; and wherein the bypass pipes 25 are upright pipes so that the 7 water of condensation readily finds its way to the lower part of the return mains for delivery through the traps to the water return main, thereby permitting the steam passing from one section to the next sections to :be as dry as possible.

It will now be apparent that I have devised a novel and useful construction which embodies the features of advantage enumerated as desirable, and while I have in the present instance shown and described the preferred embodiment thereof which has been found in practice to give satisfactory and reliable results, it is to be understood that'I do not restrict myself to the details, as the same are susceptible of modification in various particulars without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention.

. Having now described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. In drying apparatus for paper making and other machines, the combination of a plurality of drying cylinders arranged in a plurality of groups constituting separate sections, with a continuous steam supply main having communication with the drying cylinders of the several sections for supplying steam thereto, a continuous return main also in communication with the of the several sections for receiving the water of? condensation and uncondensed steam therefrom, by' pass, pipes connecting the steam supply main and the return main at intervals along their lengths, said bypass pipes provided with-valves for respectively opening or closing communication through them, valves in the supply main at intervals along its length into sections corresponding to the sections of thedryiiig cylinders, valves in the return main at intervals along its length for dividing it into sections corresponding to the for dividing it.

dryingcylinders sections of the drying cylinders, said valves 7 in the supply and return mains arranged in pairs and each pair ofvalves controlling said mains adjacent to but respectively on opposite sides of one of the by-passes, where by the steamfrom. one section .of the return main corres'ponding'to one section of the drying cylinders'may pass by a by-pass pipe into the section of the supply main corresponding to the next section of drying cylnd and S and means for removing the water of condensation from the return main.

2. The invention according to claim 1, wherein the sections of the steam supply main are all in the same substantial alinement and .are above the by-pass pipes and in which further the sections of'the return main are also in substantial .alinement to.

constitute a continuous main. and arranged below the by-pass pipes.

3. The invention according to claim 1, wherein there is a separate drain pi e from each section of the return main an an individual trap for permitting the passage'of water and restricting "the escape. of steam for each of the said drain pipes.

4. In drying apparatus for paper making and other machines, the combination of a plurality of drying cylinders arranged in a plurality of groups constitutingseparate sections, with a continuous steam supply main having communication'with the drying cylinders of the severalsections for sup plying steam' thereto, a continuous return main also in communication withethe drying i cylinders of the several sections for receiving the water of condensation and uncondensed steam therefrom, by pass pipes connecting various ways so that steam may be caused to circulate through themin succession or in multiple or in combinations, and whereby further, part of the sections may be coupled in multiple and said part in series vwith another section or section as required, and means for izemovlng the Water of condensat1on from the return main.

In testimony of whichinventionflhereunto set my hand.

I, HARRY LiEBEcK, 

